Weekend of Michelin-Starred Gluttony: Bouley and Annisa

This weekend was a festive one, and I ended up partaking in two menu tastings in the city. Bouley, for lunch on Friday, was a fantastic deal with four courses for only $55. Maybe I'm biased, but the food, service and overall dining experience was noticeably better last night at Annisa. 

The dining room at Bouley is pretty in an old school rich, formal library kind of way. It had a funny evening-style feel that confused me when I walked outside and saw it was still daytime.

Bouley has the type of tasting menu where you choose from about three items for each course. I like being able to coordinate this way, bartering with Rob over who will get what for each course. We ended up splitting everything down the middle which worked better in his favor, because I wound up picking all the winners.


We started with a summery palate cleanser of celery sorbet, halved cherries and beets.

Course 1 -- bibb salad with a light pine nut dressing and dandelions; tuna sashimi. The raw dish had some kind of tiny jelly squares that enhanced the salty/fruity wetness of the dish.

Course 2 -- porcini flan and black bass. The black bass was a forgettable, overly fancy version of something that can be done much better (See: Annisa) while the porcini flan with dungeness crab was easily my favorite dish of the whole meal. The second you take the lid off the tiny copper pot your face is bathed in a warm, truffley aroma. The one inch-long piece of dungeness crab is supplemented by hunks of regular crab. The dish has a great mixed texture of heady broth with pockets of creamy tidbits. Amazing.

Main course -- duck and chicken. Both were cooked really well, but overdressed with sauce. The chicken with buttermilk and tarragon didn't really taste like much, but it was very tender. The duck with truffle honey was a perfect medium-rare, but despite being covered in thick gravy I couldn't really make out the truffle or the honey. I really liked the surprise side of mashed potatoes that came with both of these. It looked like butter and tasted like cheese.

Another palate cleanser -- a nice melon soup with a thick dollop of rich ricotta. A mellow combination of sweet and salty to reset the taste buds before dessert.

For dessert, we got the cheese plate and the chocolate. The cheese plate was forgettable, and no one explained what any of it was. The one really cool thing about it was one of the harder cheeses was cut up along the top to look like a real white flower. The chocolate souffle was amazingly rich and chocolatey -- maybe the one thing I like better here than at Annisa -- with the darkest scoop of ice cream imaginable and a melty buttercream of (I think) espresso.

Finally, coffee and petit fours, which was more like petit 12. The dessert tower offered up macarons, sesame brittle, chocolate truffles and a few others. It was hard, but we polished it off.

Last night a group of six of us dined at Annisa. Here we did the tasting menu the way it should be done -- leaving each and every course up to the kitchen to decide. After the contrast from Friday's lunch, it's amazing how relaxed the atmosphere is here. The dining room is intimate but casual, the staff members are attentive and lovely, the drinks are well-balanced, the dishes are subtle and unique. Here are pictures of the honey lavender julep and cucumber gimlet:

First, the amuse of chicken liver mousse in crispy little bite-sized cups.

The raw courses to start. I had the tuna two ways: hot and cold. The raw tartare is always my favorite in this one. There's a bit of marinated seaweed in the center. Great presentation. Others in our group got the fluke ceviche with black lime and radish.

Next was the wild boar belly with fried eel on top, a small salad of apple and daikon, and a soup spoon with the braising liquid from the boar. I'm not a big fan of eel, but I did love the soft rich, deep flavors in this dish, which balances well with the sweet and crunch from the apple. Here's also an obligatory photo of the signature foie gras soup dumpling -- the only item Anita never rotates off the menu.

I've had the miso marinated sable before, but I don't remember it being this good. It is fantastic and flaky, perfectly cooked with a crispy exterior, paired with silken tofu soaking in a bonito broth with lots of crunchy roe. The roe settles to the bottom of the dish so towards the end, the roe starts popping like crazy in your mouth like a fourth of July finale.

Next, a new item for this spring -- golden trout with golden split peas and a syrup-glazed bacon. I'm almost glad Photoshop isn't working for me so you can see how GREEN this came out in the half light. This was a popular dish at the table, definitely the favorite of a few.

My personal favorite was the Wagyu with escarcots. I'm still amazed that beef this lean can be so tender and flavorful. I have never been wowed by Wagyu in the past, so it was nice to verify that it isn't just a gimmicky hype. I've never had escargots before and wasn't in a huge hurry to try them. I expected chewy, springy snails that tasted like mussels, but instead it was buttery with a texture more like a tiny scallop. Loved finishing with some red meat after all the fish.

After the meal we played a very fun game of dessert roulette. The cheese plate here beat the pants off the one at Bouley -- even without the gaudy flower. The chocolate tasting is more unique too -- love the malted bubble tea and the mousse. I wasn't crazy about the banana and peanut butter tower -- I've had it before, and found it a little plain -- but the poppyseed bread pudding with myer lemon curd surprised me and maybe became my new favorite. The butterscotch beignets always capture hearts, especially with the thoughtful pairing of bourbon ice (but that's always secondary). The nectarine posset rounded out the dessert with some fruit. I didn't get pictures of them all, but here's chocolate plate, the banana tower and the bread pudding:

This weekend definitely solidified Annisa as my favorite restaurant in the city. It's going to be hard going back to normal eating after a weekend of spoilage.


Bouley
163 Duane Street
Tribeca


Annisa
13 Barrow Street
West Village

Omakase at Sushi Azabu

About a week before Rob's birthday, I began my late yet important search for the perfect restaurant for Rob's celebration. So like any normal person, I began scanning Frank Bruni's archives on the New York Times for something noteworthy yet affordable. I stumbled on a recent article highlighting two sushi joints -- Kanoyama and Sushi Azabu -- as "everyday luxuries" and "bargains." When I think bargain sushi, my mind automatically shifts to a dilapidated restaurant promoting "50% off Sushi!!" on a busy, heavily Jewish Midwood street I lived on for a short (short!) while, but I knew that putting the review in perspective meant that this sushi was beyond anything Rob or I have ever had the luxury of trying before. I chose Sushi Azabu because of its hidden nature, nestled in the basement of the Greenwich Grill in Tribeca.

I had Rob meet me at the Canal Street E stop, then he followed as we made our way to Greenwich street. Rob was definitely surprised when I stopped at the Greenwich Grill and went inside. He had a look on his face that said "What, I'm supposed to eat a cheeseburger on my birthday?" but when we descended down into the hidden sushi lair, he understood. We took two of the eight chairs along the sushi bar, and behind us were only three tables. Very cozy for a basement.

First we ordered two glasses of Wataribune sake, which was dry but very light and slightly floral. Then we asked the sushi chef for the omakase tasting course. He asked if we had any dietary restrictions or allergies. and when we told him we'd eat anything he gave us, he seemed pleased.

And so with super thin chopsticks in hand, we began the six-course meal that went a little something like this:

1) Sashimi -- Here we were each given three pieces of amazingly fresh fatty tuna, two pieces of snapper, raw shrimp and sea urchin in sea water. I'd never had raw shrimp and it was incredible; one bite into the meaty body and it coated my whole mouth in sweet liquid. I don't even like cooked shrimp but this was unforgettable. The sea urchin was really interesting, it has a spongy quality that disintegrates into liquid once you pop it into your mouth. The snapper was a bit fishy but the tuna was soft and clean tasting. The presentation on this one was great as well: the shrimp was adorned with its tail fanned out and a single vine of tiny purple flowers was laid out across the dish.

2) Giant Oyster -- and when I say giant I mean humongous. It was served in a ponzu sauce with scallions. I am not an oyster person and this menacing-looking thing on my plate was no exception. I took two bites of the cold gray gunk and the taste of ocean was overwhelming. The light floral sake did nothing to get rid of the taste. I guess you have to be an oyster person for this one -- even though Rob's an oyster person and he described it as "too much oyster."

3) Tempura Ankimo -- This was the best monkfish liver I have ever tasted! On the spot I dubbed it "the foie gras of the sea." It was lightly fried with some sort of leaf (I think the sushi chef called it a lime leaf?) and served with (fittingly) a lime and a small mound of salt so you could margarita-fy to your liking. The ankimo itself was incredibly tender, and with that fried, salty crust it melted in your mouth.

4) Egg Custard (Chawan Mushi) -- This traditional steamed dish isn't my favorite, but I can understand why people like it. Custard to me should be sweet and dessert-y, not miso-flavored with hunks of mushroom. But I still liked this one, mostly because it had so many hidden surprises (crab, gingko nuts) and the overall lemon scent was nice.

5) Seaweed in Vinegar Broth -- The chef called this masagusu (sp?), tiny strands of fresh seaweed in a watery broth made of vinegar, bonito, and a few wisps of ginger. Somehow, this wasn't nearly as sharp as I thought it would be -- it was actually light and kind of sweet. A good primer for the grand finale of sushi.

6) Grand Finale of Sushi -- The final course was made up of eight individual pieces of sushi that the chef would create one at a time, then reach over and plunk down on the black slab in front of us. Each piece of fish was fitted on top of the most perfect mound of sushi rice (each grain was plump and soft, like sushi-risotto), with a bit of wasabi hidden in the middle so it tasted exactly as the chef intended. At one point I asked Rob if we could hire this guy to hand-feed us the rest of our lives. There was something very sexy about being fed one piece at a time... kind of like a food strip tease.

a) Amberjack -- Probably my favorite. Kind of like the tuna, a little less fatty, still very fresh and clean without any fishy taste.

b) Grouper -- Don't remember too much about this guy.

c) Medium Fatty Tuna -- Like tuna on steroids, very juicy and flavorful.

d) Baby White Shrimp -- Cut up into small pieces.

e) Sea Scallop with salt -- A bit fishy but (of course) very very fresh.

f) Salmon Roe -- This was the only exception to the on-rice with wasabi in the middle rule. The mountain of roe pops in your mouth while the seaweed evens it out with something more substantial. I thought this would be too fishy for me but it was actually perfect.

g) Sea Urchin -- This little guy from the first course came back to take a bow, again the juicy melt-in-your-mouth quality shined through with the sushi rice giving you something to chew on this time.

h) Sea Eel -- Perfect way to end the tasting meal. The sea eel was the only one that was hot, and it had a hint of sweetness. There must have been some sort of glaze on it, but the chef didn't tell us.

At this point we'd been indulged for close to two hours, but it didn't stop us from ordering dessert. We tried the chocolate semifreddo, which is like a half-frozen slab of chocolate ice cream with caramelized hazelnuts on top and chocoate syrup on the bottom. Chocolatey goodness. Then after THAT we were brought two large cups of Japanese "roasted" tea. Very hot and woody and a nice finish to our meal. On our way out we tried the bathrooms (heated toilet seats equipped with hot water spray capabilities, highly recommended) and were helped into our coats before we were back on the street, full and happy and a little bit dizzy. We took a cab home so we wouldn't have to waddle to the E train and let loud people kill our after-dinner buzz.

Now that I've gone I think I understand what Frank Bruni meant by a bargain -- we were hand fed super fresh and high quality fish (flown from Japan!) and treated like royalty for two and a half hours. I'd go again if I could, but an "everyday luxury"?.... not even close.